The 2019 campus climate survey has had a shockingly low response rate. As of last week’s Students’ Association meeting, less than 10 percent of students had taken the survey.

The survey focuses on everything from student safety to diversity on campus. It’s a way for the university to check in on students and gather relevant, timely information about life at South Dakota State University.

Each student has received a unique link to access the survey from the SDSU Office of Institutional Research and Assessment. There, you can begin the survey. It takes around 15 minutes to complete.

Some of the questions include asking how students feel they are treated by faculty and administration, and whether or not students feel comfortable walking on campus at night. Students can answer on a scale between one and seven; one being strongly disagree and seven being strongly agree.

Student responses historically hold weight when policymakers decide on new rules and regulations. This semester, SA senators altered the General Activity Fee strategic plan to better represent the wishes of the students who participated in the survey.

Unless a student plays an active role in an organization or has an open channel of communication with their SA representative, their voice or any discrepancies they have with the university aren’t heard.

The survey is in place to encourage students to voice their opinions, but a majority of the student body refuses to take 15 minutes of their day to answer the questions, despite the persistent email reminders and encouragement from faculty.

We, at The Collegian, feel the low response rate reflects poorly on the student body and does nothing to benefit the university.

The less people who respond to the survey, the less data SDSU has access to. Problems cannot be fixed if the university isn’t aware it has any.

The Collegian Editorial Board meets weekly and agrees on the issue of the editorial. The editorial represents